Designing Jewelry with Glass Beads by Stephanie Sersich , published by Interweave Press (April 1, 2008).

I am not quite sure why I was so surprised by how much I actually like this book. Maybe it is the too clean, almost stark uninspiring cover that just didn’t catch my imagination. But upon further inspection I am really quite delighted in this book.

Firstly though - this book is not about making glass beads, rather how to use glass beads you have purchased (or made). The begins with an essay on the history of glass beading and then moved on to an explanation on the various types of glass beads - how they are made etc and then a discussion about the elements of design, looking at colour and contrast, repetition and texture.

The main part of the book is full of projects, some techniques and some artist showcases on various types of bead making and some fabulous images of the author in her bead making studio hard at work. There are some quite unique pieces here, such as the Trapeze necklace - which has a combination of fibre, bone, shell and glass beads. I also quite like the whimsical and simply designed ribbon necklace and the more ornate pearly collar (pictured).

I really enjoyed the colourful designs and the simple way the projects are explained and broken down. Highly recommend.

Author website

Artstream in Rochester, NH. Stories and tales opens on March 7 and runs through March 31. Four Artists are included in the show: Abby Glassenberg, Darryl Berger, Alena Hennessy, and Tara Hogan. A 12 minute podcast with Abby is over at Art Esprit.

These images from Abby Glassenberg (while she naps blog) of free-standing soft sculpture birds and mixed media collages that incorporate soft sculpture birds are included in the show.